I planted a 25' row of Yukon Gold's in early May, and they were doing great until about 2 weeks ago. At that point, I noticed they were looking a little worse for wear, and were bearing green potato seed balls. I'm familiar with what they are, but I've never personally seen any before. Now, they're all yellowed, stems tipping over, leaves drying out.

The soil is rich, moist and well-mulched with grass clippings, and we've had a wetter-than-usual year so far, so they aren't stressed from heat or lack of water. No insects other than a few stem borers that are easy to spot and kill (wilting stem in a patch of green, bore-hole midway up).

It's almost like they think it's fall already and time to die back. Yukons are a 90-day potato, but they're grown at best 70 days.

It's too late to save them, so I just want to know why they did what they did, and how I should proceed to utilize the potatoes in the ground? Anyone think they'll keep in my cellar, or should I treat them as new potatoes and start eating potatoes with every meal so they don't go to waste?

Thanks!

If you leave them in the ground the curing process will proceed (as long as you don't have voles or other under ground critters, in which case the *eating* process will proceed!) The skins will harden and they'll store better.

I also find that potatoes will harden their skins once dug, as long as the vines were really done.

So, my recommendation would be to leave them in until the vines are really dead. In the mean time, start eating a few to make sure there isn't any underground damage going on. Then get them good and dry for storage. YG's store so well, I'm sure you'll be able to keep them and not have to eat them all now.

Why they made fruit, and why they died back before 90 days, I will leave to someone else to answer -- mine sometimes make fruit, too.